Public Safety

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The damage done to one Native American community's ancestral lands by the largest wildfire in New Mexico's recorded history is being assessed as part of a new agreement reached between tribal leaders and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

An agency contractor this week started collecting aerial photographs of the burned area along Santa Clara Pueblo's charred canyon as the first step in the watershed assessment.

Officials said the $1.8 million study is expected to take three years to complete. The findings will provide the basis for a long-term plan aimed at restoration and flood prevention.

A prescribed burn is underway today on the Santa Fe National Forest Espanola Ranger District. The name of the burn project is Los Posos, and is taking place three miles Southeast of Cordova and five miles Northeast of Cundiyo.

WASHINGTON (AP) — As many as 14 people have died from possible listeria illnesses traced to Colorado cantaloupes, health officials say — a death toll that would make the food outbreak the deadliest in more than a decade.

The Centers for Disease Control said last week that 55 illnesses and eight deaths were linked to the outbreak. Since then, state and local health departments in Kansas, Nebraska, Texas and Wyoming have reported six additional deaths that may be linked to the tainted fruit.

Nine people died in an outbreak linked to salmonella-tainted peanuts almost three years ago. Deaths linked to the cantaloupes are expected to easily surpass that number.

Police Beat items are compiled from public information contained in Los Alamos Police Department records. Charges or citations listed in Police Beat do not imply innocence or guilt.

Sept. 15

3:10 a.m. – A 29-year-old Los Alamos man reported that someone damaged the front door of his residence in the 100 block of Seminole. The estimated damage is $500.

9:03 a.m. – Nathaniel Richerson, 34, of Los Alamos was arrested on an outstanding warrant on misdemeanor charges from another jurisdiction. Richerson was released from jail after paying a $181 bond.
Sept. 16

Troy Hughes from Grand Island, Neb., stood out among five finalists invited to visit Los Alamos in late August to meet with county officials.

The in-depth process of interviews, examinations and evaluations eliminated all candidates but Hughes.

“I’m very excited — I think the Los Alamos Fire Department is one of the best in the nation,” said Hughes during an interview from Nebraska Friday. “I’m very honored to have been chosen to follow in the footsteps of two legendary fire chiefs — Doug MacDonald and Doug Tucker.”

Los Alamos National Laboratory on Thursday announced that it has completed excavation of its oldest waste disposal site, Material Disposal Area B (MDA-B).

The excavation removed about 43,000 cubic yards of contaminated debris and soil from the six-acre site. MDA-B was used from 1944-48 as a waste disposal site for Manhattan Project and Cold War-era research and production.

The environmental cleanup worked was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

DENVER (AP) — Health officials say a second person has died in Colorado in an outbreak of listeria traced to Colorado cantaloupes.

Mark Salley of the Colorado Department of Public Health said Tuesday the state now is reporting 14 confirmed cases of listeria connected to the outbreak to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Colorado had previously reported 12 cases, including one death.

On Monday, the CDC said that 35 people in 10 states had been sickened in the outbreak so far.

The illnesses have been traced to fruit from Jensen Farms in Holly, Colo. Jensen Farms recalled its Rocky Ford-brand cantaloupes last week

New sprouts were discovered by Bandelier officials last Sunday when they returned to the scene of a massive marijuana farm growing deep in one of the most remote areas of the national park.

The Las Conchas Fire earlier this summer appeared to have scorched the ground near the farm and agents reported finding melted remnants of a tent and a two story lookout tower built near the operation. They also discovered mattresses comprised of dried out marijuana leaves, a rifle, a large pit with an entrance about seven feet deep and a shrine containing a cross and religious candles.